I've wanted to read this book ever since we had a paperback version laying around at the farm. I liked it quite a bit, but I did think it was longer than necessary.The premise is great - exploring what happens to someone that makes the wrong decision in a crucial situation that comes back to haunt him. Jim's decision revolved around a rusting ship filled with Muslim pilgrims; he was the ship's mate. The consequences led him to various postings progressively farther east, ultimately leading him to a deep-jungle posting where he experienced great success and then another failure. The narrator (Marlowe) finds Jim's case interesting because he is "one of us."
It does make you think about quick decisions under pressure, some of which are not good decisions. Most of the time there are few or no consequences, sometimes it's a disaster. We've all been in some version of this situation.
A good summary of the book can be found here.
I like Conrad's stuff, though I preferred "Victory" and "Heart of Darkness" over this one.
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